17 December 1981

Assistance for the reconstruction, rehabilitation and development of Equatorial Guinea

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolution 35/105 of 5 December 1980, in which, inter alia, it recognized the need for the adoption of special measures of assistance to enable Equatorial Guinea to rebuild its economy and to restore to normal the social and public services of the country, and drew the attention of the international community to the critical social and economic situation confronting

Equatorial Guinea and to the list of urgent short-term and long-term projects required by the Government to carry out its programme of rehabilitation and reconstruction,

Taking note of the address delivered by the First Vice-President of the Supreme Military Council and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Equatorial Guinea to the General Assembly on 28 September 1981, in which he described the grave social and economic problems of his country and expressed the hope that the international community would contribute generously towards satisfying the needs of Equatorial Guinea at the conference of donors to be held at the beginning of 1982,

Noting further that there are no official national income statistics available for Equatorial Guinea and that, since there has been no official census since 1964, official population figures will be forthcoming only after the census proposed for the second quarter of 1982,

Noting from the report of the Secretary-General, to which is annexed the report of the review mission to Equatorial Guinea, that the economic and financial situation in that country remains grave, that the tight budgetary situation and the large external trade deficit constitute a constraint on the Government's ability to embark on a programme of reconstruction and rehabilitation and that external financial assistance is essential if the Government is to provide the population with health, education and other essential social and public services,

1. Urgently reiterates its appeal to all Member States to contribute generously, through bilateral or multilateral channels, towards satisfying the reconstruction, rehabilitation and development needs of Equatorial Guinea;

2. Requests the Economic and Social Council to invite the Committee for Development Planning, in the light of the new data and information provided by the Government of Equatorial Guinea, to consider, on the basis of existing criteria, its eligibility for inclusion in the list of the least developed countries;

3. Requests the appropriate organizations and programmes of the United Nations system - in particular the United Nations Development Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the World Bank, the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children's Fund and the United Nations Fund for Population Activities - to maintain and expand their programmes of assistance to Equatorial Guinea, to co-operate closely with the Secretary-General in the work of organizing an effective international programme of assistance, to report periodically to the Secretary-General on the steps they have taken and the resources they have made available to help that country and to provide all possible assistance to help in meeting the critical humanitarian needs of the population and to provide food, medicines and essential equipment for hospitals and schools;

4. Calls upon regional and interregional organizations and other intergovernmental bodies and non-governmental organizations, as well as international financial and development institutions, to give urgent consideration to the possibility of establishing a programme of assistance for Equatorial Guinea and to the expansion of any programme already in existence, and to contribute generously towards satisfying the needs of Equatorial Guinea at the forthcoming conference of donors;

5. Notes that the United Nations Development Programme will assist the Government of Equatorial Guinea in preparing new official national income statistics and new population figures so that the Government can bring these data to the attention of the Committee for Development Planning to enable the Committee to re-examine the request of Equatorial Guinea for inclusion in the list of the least developed countries on the basis of the existing criteria and those new statistics;

6. Requests the Secretary-General:

(a) To continue his efforts to mobilize the necessary resources for an effective programme of financial, technical and material assistance to Equatorial Guinea;

(b) To ensure that the necessary financial and budgetary arrangements are made to continue to mobilize the organization of the international programme of assistance to Equatorial Guinea;

(c) To keep the situation in Equatorial Guinea under constant review, to maintain close contact with Member States, the specialized agencies, regional and other intergovernmental organizations and the international financial institutions concerned and to apprise the Economic and Social Council, at its second regular session of 1982, of the status of the special economic assistance programme for Equatorial Guinea;

(d) To arrange for a review of the economic situation of Equatorial Guinea and the progress made in organizing and implementing the special economic assistance programme for that country in time for the matter to be considered by the General Assembly at its thirty-seventh session.